Craig Thompson

Winners of the 29^th annual TARC Advocacy Awards have been selected and will be presented with their awards at the Advocacy Awards & Volunteer Recognition ceremony on Dec. 10, 2019 at the Marriott Hotel Southern Hills in Tulsa. The awards recognize individuals and organizations who have provided outstanding service and advocacy for Oklahomans with developmental disabilities.

Winners of the 2019 Advocacy Awards are:

Volunteer of the Year – Joe Honeycutt

Self-Advocate of the Year – Tomas Davis

Parent of the Year – Andee Cooper

Direct Care Provider of the Year – Brooke Andrews

Professional Provider of the Year – Jeff Wonderly

Case Manager of the Year – Ellen Kunze

Educator of the Year – Cassandra Marlar

Elected Official of the Year – Cyndi Munson

Media Advocate of the Year – TulsaKids Magazine

Board Member of the Year – (tie) Seth Campbell and John Corpolongo

Special Achievement in Advocacy – Individual – Lori Hauge

Special Achievement in Advocacy – Group – Chris Castleberry and Darla Hill-Myers

Catalyst of Change Award – Early Access Program – Oklahoma Autism Center

Catalyst of Change Award – Wanda Felty

Catalyst of Change Award – Joanne Goin

Shelby Hard Courage in Advocacy Award – Valerie Wood

Lifetime Achievement Award – Sandy Ingraham

Each of these award recipients has done something remarkable in helping to achieve TARC’s mission of ensuring a high quality of life for Oklahomans with developmental disabilities and their families.

The event will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at the Southern Hills Marriott Hotel in Tulsa beginning at 6 p.m.

LeAnne Taylor, KOTV’s “6 In The Morning” personality, will serve as the master of ceremonies. Guests will gather in the ballroom for an evening filled with live music provided by local music sensation, Branjae, the opportunity to bid in a silent auction, dinner, and program featuring keynote speaker, Richard Hight. Richard is an internationally-known artist and motivational speaker who hails from Oklahoma. His work is housed in more than 50 museums and universities around the country.

Established in 1952, TARC is a Tulsa-based nonprofit organization and Tulsa Area United Way agency that provides a network of services and programs that educates, empowers, and advocates for Oklahomans with developmental disabilities and their families.

 

TARC held its 27th Annual Advocacy Awards & Volunteer Recognition ceremony at the Southern Hills Marriott in Tulsa on Dec. 7. More than 250 guests gathered in the ballroom for entertainment from duo Branjae and Scott, the opportunity to participate in a silent auction, dinner, and the main program.

KOTV “Six In The Morning” personality LeAnne Taylor served as master of ceremonies and Joey Travolta was the keynote speaker. James and Joseph Meadours received the lifetime achievement award for their years of committed advocacy to people with developmental disabilities. Long-time volunteers were also recognized for their service and awards were given to advocates committed to ensuring a high quality of life for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

 

 

Winners of the 2017 TARC Advocacy Awards have been selected. These winners and others who have provided outstanding service to Oklahomans with developmental disabilities will be honored and recognized at the 27th Annual Advocacy Awards and Volunteer Recognition event on Thursday, Dec. 7 at the Marriott Southern Hills Hotel in Tulsa.

The event will include keynote speaker Joey Travolta who will share his passion for helping students with  intellectual and developmental disabilities develop self-esteem, confidence, and creativity through acting and digital film making.

In addition, the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to brothers James and Joe Meadours, pioneering self-advocates who more than 20 years ago were instrumental in organizing the first People First program in Oklahoma and have gone on to earn national acclaim for their support of self-advocacy throughout the U.S.

Master of ceremonies for this year’s event will be KOTV’s “6 In The Morning” personality LeAnne Taylor.

For more information, please call 918-582-TARC (8272) or 800-688-TARC (8272).

 

This year’s Advocacy Award winners are:

• Advocate – Board Member – Terry Trego (Woodward)
  Recognizes a member of the board of directors of any non-profit, community based service provider who has gone beyond the interest of his or her agency to become an advocate for all people with disabilities.
• Advocate – Case Manager – Sonya Rios (Tulsa)
  Recognizes the OKDHS/DDS case manager who has surpassed job requirements to advocate for his or her clients.
• Advocate – Direct Care Provider – Kerrie White (Noble)
  Recognizes the direct contact staff person working for a community provider, who has gone beyond job requirements to advocate for people with disabilities.
• Advocate – Educator – Carolyn Piguet (Vinita)
  Recognizes a public school educator who has promoted the inclusion of children with disabilities in regular school settings.
• Advocate – Professional Provider – Kim Wotring (Tulsa)
  Recognizes any professional such as a therapist or physician who advocates for people with disabilities beyond their professional responsibilities.
• Advocate – Volunteer – Helen Taylor (Tulsa)
  Recognizes the volunteer or group of volunteers who, in a program serving people with developmental disabilities, has gone beyond the call of duty to advocate.
• Self-Advocate – Donald Smalley (Vinita)
  Recognizes the self-advocate who has spoken out for all people with disabilities.
• Media Advocate – OK Watch (Norman)
  Recognizes the media professional who has effectively promoted better understanding and integration of people with disabilities living in the community.
• Parent Advocate – Erica Herrera (Oklahoma City)
  Recognizes the parent(s) of a person with developmental disabilities who has been a voice for all people with disabilities.
• Special Achievement in Advocacy – Individual – Ed Long (Oklahoma City)
  Recognizes the individual, business, or organization not included in other categories, which through a significant advocacy effort has improved the lives of people with disabilities.
• Special Achievement in Advocacy – Group – True Blue Neighbors – (Tulsa)
  Recognizes the individual, business, or organization not included in other categories, which through a significant advocacy effort has improved the lives of people with disabilities.
• Catalyst of Change – Judith Leitner (Oklahoma City)
  Recognizes individuals, groups or  organizations that have been catalysts for significant positive change in improving the lives of Oklahomans with developmental disabilities over a long period of time.
• Catalyst of Change – Jenifer Randle (Oklahoma City)
  Recognizes individuals, groups or  organizations that have been catalysts for significant positive change in improving the lives of Oklahomans with developmental disabilities over a long period of time.

TARC is one of 10 chapters of The Arc of the U.S. selected to participate in a pilot project to create a training curriculum that will be used nationally to train parents and others how to effectively advocate for special education services. TARC was chosen for the project largely because of their more than 20 years of experience and expertise in doing effective special education advocacy.

Sherilyn Walton, TARC’s Family Support Coordinator, provides this service and is well regarded by schools and parents for her expertise. She is a licensed clinical social worker and was a general and special education teacher for several years. As a result, she not only understands the laws affecting special education and what is required, but also  can relate well with school personnel.

“We are honored and excited to have been chosen to participate in this important project and lend our knowledge and expertise in the development of this national training curriculum,” said TARC Executive Director John Gajda. “Training others on how to be effective advocates for special education services fits perfectly with our philosophy on advocacy. Sherilyn not only attends meetings with parents, she teaches them how to be effective advocates so they can continue to advocate for their child throughout their school experience,” he added.

The special education advocacy training curriculum developed by this pilot project will be specifically designed for the nearly 700 state and local chapters of The Arc to help prepare chapter staff to effectively train parents and others to advocate on behalf of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in special education matters. The training curriculum will discuss how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 programs apply to individual students participating in these programs as well as advocacy strategies to address potential concerns at each step of the special education process to ensure students receive a “free and appropriate public education.”

Thanks to funding from TAUW and generous donors, special education advocacy services provided by TARC are available to families in the six counties (Tulsa, Creek, Okmulgee, Osage, Rogers and Wagoner) served by TAUW. TARC has provided this service in 79 public schools and three charter schools in 17 separate school districts. For more information on this service and others     provided by TARC, call  (918) 582-TARC (8272).

“We are in the fight of our lives” is how Peter Burns, Executive Director of The Arc of the U.S. characterized the proposed federal government changes to Medicaid that would strip $800 billion from the program that largely funds all states’ home and community-based supports for people with developmental disabilities.

As disastrous as those potential changes at the federal level are, TARC, an affiliated chapter of The Arc, has been deeply concerned about the devastating effects of recent and proposed budget cuts by the State of Oklahoma on services and safeguards for people with developmental disabilities.

As a result, TARC is ramping up its public policy advocacy efforts to more effectively work with Oklahoma legislators and other influential decision makers to support legislation and funding that will assist individuals with developmental disabilities to have a better quality of life.

To assist with these efforts, TARC received a $15,000 challenge grant from The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation to help further the agency’s efforts to advocate for people with developmental disabilities.

The grant is helping fund a Public Policy Coordinator leading TARC’s public policy agenda by assisting in identifying emerging issues and helping craft agency’s public policy agenda, interacting with interested and committed individuals and coalitions to develop and implement action steps to address these issues, cultivating and mobilizing grassroots advocates in support of the agenda, and communicating TARC’s issues and priorities as a public speaker in the community.

Join the fight! Additional help is needed. You can assist our advocacy efforts by becoming a TARC member. All membership fees will be used to support public policy advocacy by TARC staff as they reach out to decision makers at the State Capitol. Members, in turn, will be assisted by the agency in their own outreach efforts to communicate their desires to their elected representatives to provide the necessary funding for the critical needs of Oklahomans with developmental disabilities.

 

“In high school, I was always the protector of kids with special needs,” said Joey Travolta, the keynote speaker at the 27^th annual  Advocacy Awards and Volunteer Recognition event scheduled for Dec. 7, 2017 at the Marriott Hotel Southern Hills in Tulsa.

That protective instinct became a motivating force in shaping Joey’s future career choices. He went on to earn a degree in special education and became a special education teacher. Born into a show business family, Joey, older brother of John, became a performer in 1978 as a recording artist with Casablanca Records and then stared in several feature films.

He has directed and produced more than 20 films, including the documentary Normal People Scare Me, while mentoring a 15-year-old boy with autism who directed the film. In 2007, Joey founded Inclusion Films which involves individuals with special needs in the process of making films.

Joey will share his passion for helping students with  intellectual and developmental disabilities develop self-esteem, confidence, and creativity through acting and digital film making.

This year’s Advocacy Award winners are:

• Advocate – Board Member – Terry Trego (Woodward)
  Recognizes a member of the board of directors of any non-profit, community based service provider who has gone beyond the interest of his or her agency to become an advocate for all people with disabilities.
• Advocate – Case Manager – Sonya Rios (Tulsa)
  Recognizes the OKDHS/DDS case manager who has surpassed job requirements to advocate for his or her clients.
• Advocate – Direct Care Provider – Kerrie White (Noble)
  Recognizes the direct contact staff person working for a community provider, who has gone beyond job requirements to advocate for people with disabilities.
• Advocate – Educator – Carolyn Piguet (Vinita)
  Recognizes a public school educator who has promoted the inclusion of children with disabilities in regular school settings.
• Advocate – Professional Provider – Kim Wotring (Tulsa)
  Recognizes any professional such as a therapist or physician who advocates for people with disabilities beyond their professional responsibilities.
• Advocate – Volunteer – Helen Taylor (Tulsa)
  Recognizes the volunteer or group of volunteers who, in a program serving people with developmental disabilities, has gone beyond the call of duty to advocate.
• Self-Advocate – Donald Smalley (Vinita)
  Recognizes the self-advocate who has spoken out for all people with disabilities.
• Media Advocate – OK Watch (Norman)
  Recognizes the media professional who has effectively promoted better understanding and integration of people with disabilities living in the community.
• Parent Advocate – Erica Herrera (Oklahoma City)
  Recognizes the parent(s) of a person with developmental disabilities who has been a voice for all people with disabilities.
• Special Achievement in Advocacy – Individual – Ed Long (Oklahoma City)
  Recognizes the individual, business, or organization not included in other categories, which through a significant advocacy effort has improved the lives of people with disabilities.
• Special Achievement in Advocacy – Group – True Blue Neighbors – (Tulsa)
  Recognizes the individual, business, or organization not included in other categories, which through a significant advocacy effort has improved the lives of people with disabilities.
• Catalyst of Change – Judith Leitner (Oklahoma City)
  Recognizes individuals, groups or  organizations that have been catalysts for significant positive change in improving the lives of Oklahomans with developmental disabilities over a long period of time.
• Catalyst of Change – Jenifer Randle (Oklahoma City)
  Recognizes individuals, groups or  organizations that have been catalysts for significant positive change in improving the lives of Oklahomans with developmental disabilities over a long period of time.